News: Worsening fuel scarcity looms as Kaduna refinery shuts down

Nigerians may be in for another era of fuel shortages across the country as the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) has shut down operations due to lack of crude oil.

According to the Executive Director, Services, of KRPC, Abdullahi Idris, in a statement, the refinery, commissioned in 1980, was functioning at 60 per cent capacity before it was shut down two weeks ago due to the absence of crude oil.

The EDS, who said the lubes and petrochemical plant of the refinery plant was commissioned in 1983 and 1988 respectively, explained that the plant was also producing 2.5 million litres of (AGO) diesel and 1.6 million litres of kerosene per day.

He maintained that the plant had undergone a turnaround maintenance (TAM) in 2013 and currently had a workforce of 1,004 staff.

He lamented that with the current unprecedented average daily fuel evacuation of 55 million litres since December 1, 2017 to date, it was imperative for security agencies to close-in on the smuggling syndicates who were cashing in on the petrol price differentials between Nigeria and neighbouring countries to make illicit profit.